On 12 October 2016, the 8th National Correspondents Meeting of the European Judicial Network (EJN) took place in The Hague under the Slovak EU Presidency (SK Presidency).
The meeting was opened by the SK Presidency. The former presidency, held by the Netherlands thanked all the members of the EJN Presidency Board for their efforts during its Presidency and expressed hope that the vital work, including on the outcome of the 46th Plenary meeting in relation to the cooperation between the EJN and Eurojust, would continue. Malta, who will succeed Slovakia in 2017 and Estonia who will be chairing the EJN in the 2nd semester 2017 – all members of the EJN Presidency Board – were also represented at the meeting.
The Slovak Presidency presented its priorities to the National Correspondents and further highlighted important topics that would be examined. For instance, the EU-Japan Day, which took place in July of this year, was deemed a success. Moreover, the European Judicial Cybercrime Network (EJCN) was highlighted as an important topic for the SK Presidency and was further discussed later during the meeting by the National Correspondents.
Mr. Ola Löfgren, Secretary to the EJN, stressed the importance of the increased work done by the EJN and highlighted ways to connect with new networks in areas of the world which will undoubtedly help the EJN.
Furthermore, there were discussions about the Eurojust budget in the upcoming years which was presented by the Administrative Director ad interim, of Eurojust and the Head of Budget, Finance & Procurement Unit.
The United Kingdom’s stance was highlighted during the meeting by representatives of UK/Scotland who reiterated the important role of the EJN.
The EJN Secretariat had the opportunity to update the National Correspondents on various ongoing issues and upcoming projects. The reorganisation of the Library tool on the EJN website was discussed; it is currently being developed. The recently launched update of the Compendium tool was also highlighted. Moreover, the new online tool for collecting EJN statistics was showcased to the National Correspondents and was warmly welcomed. The new online tool will make reporting easier for the EJN contact points and it is vital to reflect the activities of the EJN contact points in the Report on activities and management of the EJN, submitted to the EU institutions every second year.
The meeting was much appreciated and allowed the EJN National Correspondents to give their opinions on ongoing and upcoming projects. The SK Presidency thanked everyone for attending the meeting and is looking forward to seeing everyone again at the 48th Plenary Meeting, which takes place in Bratislava 21-23 November 2016.
